At a Bellingham City Council meeting Monday January 24th, 2011 Don Keher of Briar Development projected a map of Happy Valley highlighting it’s irregular border with Fairhaven and the property Haggen purchased across the street from it’s Fairhaven store sitting squarely in the middle. The border splits the block between 13th and 14th streets from McKenzie to Larrabee Avenues. Zoned residential on the Happy Valley half and commercial in Fairhaven, the site as is could not be fully used for a future store expansion the grocers may want to pursue.
Keher is the man hired to pitch Haggen’s plan to secure a commercial rezone, which he said without Haggen “Simply won’t be able to grow.” Haggen is hoping the proposal is docketed in time to incorporate it with the revision of Fairhaven’s Neighborhood Plan. This meeting will be the first of many if the council decides to dedicate city time and resources to the issue. So far the proposal is as supported by the planning commission as it is opposed by residents, but with plenty of creative compromise in between.
In a statement from Dave Rice, Haggen’s owner to the Fairhaven Planning Commission, Rice wrote, “The proposed change would affect only land owned by us.” Haggen assumed Happy Valley might feel differently though, and sent in Keher to speak to the neighborhood association a week before the public hearing. He emphasized Haggen’s desire to work with the community and suggested that support for docketing the plan would be an opportunity for community members to participate in the plan’s restrictions. Once docketed, he said, community members could participate in developing restrictions such as building height and proximity to the street, along with environmental or aesthetic inputs like rain collectors or a tree-lined parking lot. He said Haggen did not envision an expansion for another five to fifteen years depending on economic conditions.
“It’s like baking a cake before you have a recipe.” Said resident Matt Chrisman in his testimony before city council. He said he wanted to see “progressive and intelligent infill” that utilized a street vacation of 13th. “They could double the store without going into Happy Valley”.
Other residents were concerned about what the neighborhood association president, Jim Spaich called “The domino effect.” If the neighborhood boundary was moved a half a block east to 14th, it could potentially open four more blocks to commercial development. Several residents also mentioned the possibility of Haggen selling the property after it has secured the rezone.
Jeff Thomas of the Planning Commission, which supports Haggen and recommended the council docket the rezone, said it would be possible to change the zoning only in the block Haggen owns. He said “We could leave the neighborhoods where they are.” Which, he said, would give Happy Valley more control over the project and say in future development.
Councilman Terry Borneman also supported a zoning compromise that left the neighborhoods intact because of the impact to both. He reminded his fellow council members of the “Big Box” ordinance which puts pressure on local businesses to succeed.
Even among those completely against any sort of commercial development in their community, there was a sense that having some say was worth fighting for. Happy Valley certainly has taken more than it’s fair share of Bellingham’s growth, and with the city’s “Urban Village” planning approach it will likely see more. The Neighborhood is now only 22 percent zoned single-family residential and has seen much higher development of multi-family housing, according to city records. More growth may seem inevitable in the fasted developing neighborhood in Bellingham and these neighbors would like to see it happen as thoughtfully as possible.
